As readers of this weekly update know, GAJE will be seeking leave from the Supreme Court of Canada to appeal the ruling of the Ontario Court of Appeal that allowed our application to reassess the Adler decision by the Supreme Court in 1996 to be thrown out of court. Reassessing the Adler decision of 30 years ago is the first step in enabling GAJE to challenge Ontario’s discriminatory educational funding policy.
The Government of Ontario refuses even to have a discussion with GAJE about ending the unfair, unequal educational funding of Jewish and other minority children. And it is now apparent, that neither the Divisional Court nor the Court of Appeal is bothered by Ontario’s relentless, hard-nosed refusal to abolish the unequal treatment of non-Catholic minority school children. Alas.
If the Government of Ontario ever finds the political courage to talk about the appropriateness of its educational policies in the year 2026, most Education experts will advise them:
• that the policies are anachronistic;
• that the policies actually discourage the best educational results, and
• that funding independent schools – at least to some extent – is more financially efficient.
Last week, the Alberta-based Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy released a new study examining the financial impact of independent schools and home education programs.
The study was entitled More Choice, More Savings: How Educational Choice Saves Alberta Taxpayers Billions.
The authors of the study stated boldly-stated their conclusion: “Educational choice is saving Alberta taxpayers billions.”
The study analyzed per-student funding, enrolment trends, and capital implications across Alberta’s K–12 system. The evidence shows that independent and home education programs are not a burden on the public system—they are a fiscal benefit.
We reproduce some key points from the Foundation’s press release.
• Fully taxpayer-funded public, separate, and francophone schools cost taxpayers $11,225 per student. Independent schools cost $8,027, and home education costs $1,802.
• Each independent school student saves taxpayers 28 cents on the dollar compared to a fully- funded public school student. Each home-educated student saves 84 cents on the dollar.
• In 2024 alone, these savings totalled $306.4 million. Over the past five years, they add up to $1.35 billion.
• If independent and home-education students were absorbed into the public system, Alberta would require at least 54 additional public schools, at a capital cost exceeding $3 billion.
The authors added that the overwhelmingly middle-class families who choose these options do so for many reasons: supportive and safe environments, smaller class sizes and alignment with family values. Alberta’s education system is one of the most pluralistic in North America, offering 17 distinct approaches to schooling, 13 of which receive at least partial public funding. That diversity not only reflects market demand, it strengthens the system as a whole.
The study is available at:
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GAJE shares this information because it offers relevant, up-to-date information regarding the funding of education in the year 2026 in Canada. In its broad framework, Alberta’s policy conforms with and confirms the funding practices of British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec.
Ontario’s Minister of Education should be interested in this information. By at least partially funding independent schools, the province would:
• spend its tax-payer funds more wisely and more efficiently,
• improve province- wide educational outcomes,
• provide safer, more supportive learning environments for all children in the province,
• enable smaller class sizes in the public school system,
• foster education that more closely aligns with the true needs and values of the child’s family,
• provide education that more accurately reflects the cultural, denominational and special needs diversity of Ontario,
• strengthen the public school system, and
• abate, if not yet eliminate, the unequal, unfair, discriminatory treatment of non-Catholic, minority children.
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If you wish to contribute to GAJE’s lawsuit to achieve fairness in educational funding, please click here. Charitable receipts for donations for income tax purposes will be issued by Mizrachi Canada. Your donations will be used for the sole purpose of helping to underwrite the costs of the lawsuit. For further information, please contact Israel Mida at: imida1818@gmail.com Thank you, in advance, for considering doing so.
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Shabbat shalom
Grassroots for Affordable Jewish Education (GAJE)
February 27, 2026
Grassroots for Affordable Jewish Education 